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A common misconception about fevers is that they should all be reduced. A fever is the bodies' mechanism for fighting an invasion or infection.

When the body senses that there is an infection, it triggers a chain of events to fight the invasion. By raising the temperature at which the infection is thriving, it often kills the bacteria or virus that is making you sick.

So it is not always necessary to lower a temperature, and it may actually hinder the recovery process if you interfere with the bodies' natural response.

Always check with a physician about treatment for anyone who is experiencing a fever. If you decide to avoid fever-reducing medications, then you can try some other methods for reducing the bodies' temperature.

Usually, when the temperature is so high that the patient becomes uncomfortable and dehydrated, it's time to step in and help out.

Ensure that the patient has ample fluid. Gatorade or Powerade are excellent choices for re-hydration because they also offer added vitamins and minerals, that may have been lost through perspiration or vomiting. Ice pops are another great choice

Don't use alcohol. It can cause a spiked temperature and even alcohol poisoning. Instead, use a cold washcloth and continue to re-cool the cloth when it becomes warm.

A tepid bath can be of great help in treating a fever. Allowing the patient to lie in the bath-tub for about 30-60 minutes can be very effective in lowering the bodies' core temperature.

Fans also help lower a fever; but keep the fan on a low setting, so you avoid chilling the patient any further. Don't pile on blankets. In fact the less clothing, the better. This will help the heat to escape through the skin.

Pay attention to low urine output. This is a key signal that there is severe dehydration and it's important to seek medical help if this occurs.

Stay in a cool environment and use air-conditioning when ever possible.

If the patient is a child younger than three months, call the physicians immediately. For babies, 3-5 months call the doctor if the temperature reaches 101 or higher. If a fever reaches 102 in a child six months or older, you should contact the child's doctor.

If there is ever a fever combined with any other symptoms, you should contact a physician for advice, especially if there are any signs of purple spots on the skin. This could be indicative of a serious disorder, such as meningitis.

The reason why there are so many types of blood pressure drugs is because if one of them worked very well without adverse side effects, there would be no need for the others, but they all have adverse effects as the fine print in the package insert will show anyone with an inquiring mind.The reason why there are so many types of blood pressure drugs is because if one of them worked very well without adverse side effects, there would be no need for the others, but they all have adverse effects as the fine print in the package insert will show anyone with an inquiring mind.

Stress is a well-known and identified problem within the nursing profession. According to Atkinson stress occurs when one is faced with events or encounters that they perceive as an endangerment to their physical or psychological well-being

Another day taking care of sick people. You love your job but the stress of your day is encroaching on your health. Maybe you find yourself tired all the time no matter how much sleep you get. Or you are finding that those scrubs, normally loose, are now fitting tight around the middle. Does your diet consist of donuts, soda and coffee to make it through the day? Having worked at the bedside as a Registered Nurse for years, I know my job took a toll on my health. My weight sky rocketed, I felt overwhelmed and tired. I didn't work out,

The flu season is upon us, and many nurses are forced to get the flu vaccination or face termination by their employer. The flu vaccine is not a guarantee that we won't get the flu. Scientists must be diligent every year to track down the mutations that the virus has made, to get the strain for the vaccine correct.

Nurses lead busy lives and it's difficult to keep your weight loss goals in check when you're forced to watch other nurses ordering pizza and other take-out foods during your shift. All too often we decide well, maybe I'll just have one piece of pizza or birthday cake and ice cream? It's hard not to feel deprived when you are hungry.

I was born in the late 60's in Great Britain, and I know I'm not alone when I say that I remember traveling in the back seat of the car with no seatbelt and cigarette smoke billowing from the front of the car where my Father was sitting. I just figured it was normal, although I hated the smell and breathing the smoke into my little lungs.

Health officials in New York State have ordered inspections of cooling facilities in an attempt to stop the worst out break of Legionnaires' disease that New York City has ever seen. 10 people are now dead, and 101 are infected.

A new study published by JAMA reveals that patients suffering from appendicitis who were treated with a 10 day course of antibiotics, rather than undergoing surgery had a 73% recovery rate, even a year after the study was conducted.

If you're human you've thought about the tradition of shaking hands in the western world. If you're a nurse, you may have even obsessed about this tradition. Why do we shake hands? How safe it it? Should we find another method to seal a deal, introduce ourselves or show how "macho we are?"

Today I was working out at the gym, and my normal routine includes alternately walking and running for three miles, followed by 1.5 hours on weights and 50 laps in an Olympic size pool. I was about to wrap up the weight part of my workout. All I had left was the leg press. You have to add free weights to the bar before sitting down and pressing the weight up and releasing with your legs. I had added one of the 35lb weights and reached out to grab the other one when it slipped through my sweaty hands and slammed down

Nursing is stressful. Caring for one human being's every need when they are able bodied is tough enough. Caring for ten when they are not, can be a nightmare. Sometimes you need a break, a permanent vacation to the tropics, never to return!

Nurses seem to have a love-hate relationship with the 12 hour shift. On one hand we love the extra time off we get from cramming more hours in while we are at work. On the other hand we hate them with a passion while we're at work. The third 12 hour shift is always the most

It's no surprise to any nurse that there are many medications that are contraindicated when taken in conjunction. According to a recent article in USA Today, 2/3 of women age 20 and older take medications for chronic conditions and 28% of older women take 5 medications or more.

The reason why there are so many types of blood pressure drugs is because if one of them worked very well without adverse side effects, there would be no need for the others, but they all have adverse effects as the fine print in the package insert will show anyone with an inquiring mind.The reason why there are so many types of blood pressure drugs is because if one of them worked very well without adverse side effects, there would be no need for the others, but they all have adverse effects as the fine print in the package insert will show anyone with an inquiring mind.

Stress is a well-known and identified problem within the nursing profession. According to Atkinson stress occurs when one is faced with events or encounters that they perceive as an endangerment to their physical or psychological well-being

Another day taking care of sick people. You love your job but the stress of your day is encroaching on your health. Maybe you find yourself tired all the time no matter how much sleep you get. Or you are finding that those scrubs, normally loose, are now fitting tight around the middle. Does your diet consist of donuts, soda and coffee to make it through the day? Having worked at the bedside as a Registered Nurse for years, I know my job took a toll on my health. My weight sky rocketed, I felt overwhelmed and tired. I didn't work out,

The flu season is upon us, and many nurses are forced to get the flu vaccination or face termination by their employer. The flu vaccine is not a guarantee that we won't get the flu. Scientists must be diligent every year to track down the mutations that the virus has made, to get the strain for the vaccine correct.

Nurses lead busy lives and it's difficult to keep your weight loss goals in check when you're forced to watch other nurses ordering pizza and other take-out foods during your shift. All too often we decide well, maybe I'll just have one piece of pizza or birthday cake and ice cream? It's hard not to feel deprived when you are hungry.

I was born in the late 60's in Great Britain, and I know I'm not alone when I say that I remember traveling in the back seat of the car with no seatbelt and cigarette smoke billowing from the front of the car where my Father was sitting. I just figured it was normal, although I hated the smell and breathing the smoke into my little lungs.

Health officials in New York State have ordered inspections of cooling facilities in an attempt to stop the worst out break of Legionnaires' disease that New York City has ever seen. 10 people are now dead, and 101 are infected.

A new study published by JAMA reveals that patients suffering from appendicitis who were treated with a 10 day course of antibiotics, rather than undergoing surgery had a 73% recovery rate, even a year after the study was conducted.

If you're human you've thought about the tradition of shaking hands in the western world. If you're a nurse, you may have even obsessed about this tradition. Why do we shake hands? How safe it it? Should we find another method to seal a deal, introduce ourselves or show how "macho we are?"

A woman was admitted to the National Institute of Health in Maryland, on Friday after being diagnosed with a severe, aggressive and drug-resistant form of tuberculosis. Meanwhile, health officials are investigating people she may have been in contact with, to see if they are also infected

The NIH stated "The patient is staying in an isolation room in the NIH Clinical Center specifically designed for handling patients with respiratory infections,"

In a statement the NIH said "NIH is taking every precaution to ensure the safety of all concerned, and the situation is of minimal risk to other Clinical Center patients, NIH staff, and the public,"

Bruce Hirsch, an infectious disease physician at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y, stated that "monitoring potentially exposed patients is "essential" to keeping Americans safe."

He also added that "The treatment of this resistant strain of tuberculosis is challenging and prolonged,"

According to the New York Times, "The woman flew from India to Chicago in April. She then traveled to Missouri and Tennessee before returning to Chicago, where she went to the ER for treatment and was later admitted. This was seven weeks after she arrived on U.S soil. Her prognosis is not yet known, but her condition is serious. Doctors are very concerned because this particular strain of TB is extremely dangerous and difficult to treat. According to William Schaffner, MD, Infectious Disease Specialist, Vanderbilt " It can create holes in the lungs, (so called cavities) where the TB bacteria can flourish and slowly reduce your capacity of the lung to function," The woman is expected to require months of treatment if she is to survive.

The co-chief of infectious disease, Debra Spicehandler of Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, New York told USA TODAY that "If she was coughing then people on the plane are certainly at risk for catching this. Not a high risk but there's always a risk of transmission."

About 1 million people die from TB every year worldwide. In 1985 with the newly discovered disease AIDS and HIV arriving on the scene, TB was on the rise because patients with HIV have weak immune systems which leaves them more susceptible to contracting diseases. But in 1993 new cases of TB began to decline as AIDS and HIV became more treatable and less prevalent.

In the medical field, there are droplet precautions and airborne precautions. Diseases that are spread by droplet precautions are harder to contract because they are large droplets, thus they have a heavy molecular weight, so they subsequently drop to the floor much quicker than airborne droplets.

TB is considered airborne precautions. The molecules are so tiny that they remain in the air longer. Allowing more time for the disease to be transmitted from one person to the next. A regular medical mask is not effective in protecting against TB. A person must be fit tested for a TB mask. The person who fits the masks must make sure it is tight, and no air can travel through the edges of the mask. Only then is it effective for the protection of TB.

If you are a medical professional and you have not been tested for a TB mask, you should contact your employer and ask to be fitted. Medical professionals should also be asking patients about any recent trips out of the United States.

According to the CDC People who work in healthcare facilities or patients of these facilities are at higher risk of contracting TB. There should be a program in place in every health care establishment to control the incidence and spread of the disease.

As a health care provider you should be adequately trained for the immediate detection of infectious patients, airborne precautions and treatment measure for infected patients.

There are three goals that should be met according to the CDC to deal with the spread of TB. There should be constant evaluation of the TB policies and procedures, which should also be regularly reviewed to ensure the effectiveness.

Administrative measures, environmental controls and the use of respiratory protective equipment must be utilized to achieve these goals.

Please share this post so others can be informed of the importance of getting fit tested and wearing the proper isolation equipment to protect against the spread of this potent and aggressive form of TB.

Carolyn Strom, a registered nurse from Regina, Saskatchewan, Is going through an extensive and expensive legal battle caused by a Facebook post that she wrote 2 years ago when her Grandfather was a patient in a long-term care facility.

A middle school nurse in Texas decorated for Christmas with a Bible verse-filled Charlie Brown Christmas poster on her door. But the Scrooge-like principal and the school board forced her to take it down.

A 7-year-old child is dead after suffering from cardiac arrest following surgery for a congenital heart defect. Reports about the incident suggest that the nurse should have pushed the emergency alarm when she realized what was happening, but instead she walked away and

A nurse in Aleppo committed suicide this week, so Syrian soldiers couldn't enjoy raping her. She is one of several women who have taken their own lives to avoid being raped and murdered by what they consider "animal" soldiers.

A seasoned nurse has been fired for offering to pray with patients prior to surgery.

Sister Sarah Kuteh has been a nurse for 15 years. She was terminated from her position at Darent Valley hospital in Dartford, Kent for breaching guidelines, even though she was required to ask patients about their religion during their pre-op time.

Today I was working out at the gym, and my normal routine includes alternately walking and running for three miles, followed by 1.5 hours on weights and 50 laps in an Olympic size pool. I was about to wrap up the weight part of my workout. All I had left was the leg press. You have to add free weights to the bar before sitting down and pressing the weight up and releasing with your legs. I had added one of the 35lb weights and reached out to grab the other one when it slipped through my sweaty hands and slammed down

Nursing is stressful. Caring for one human being's every need when they are able bodied is tough enough. Caring for ten when they are not, can be a nightmare. Sometimes you need a break, a permanent vacation to the tropics, never to return!

Nurses seem to have a love-hate relationship with the 12 hour shift. On one hand we love the extra time off we get from cramming more hours in while we are at work. On the other hand we hate them with a passion while we're at work. The third 12 hour shift is always the most

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